Wooden bookshelves installed against slanted walls support to define the different areas of this open-program loft apartment that h2o Architectes has renovated in the Arsenal district of Paris .
Found in a normal Haussmannian creating from the 19th-century renovation of Paris, the loft had previously been converted from its authentic use as servants’ quarters into an apartment that was divided into three rooms. But it didn’t make the most of the window views, so its owners – a loved ones with two kids – asked local company h2o Architectes to reorganise the interior and make it far more open.
The firm tackled a equivalent process with its design and style for the Parisian apartment of a comic-strip collector, which was solved by dividing the area making use of a series of white, rounded volumes.
In the Arsenal property, a series of bookshelves help to define the newly configured spaces, generating room for the client’s extensive library.
“The challenge was to take benefit of the wonderful views of Paris whilst producing closed spaces and organising a giant guide assortment,” architect Antoine Santiard informed Dezeen. “The owner is a guide collector and the show of his collection organises the space and different places.”
Existing columns, chimney breasts and angled walls established the layout of the apartment, as nicely as the positioning and shape of the new bookshelves – which the staff describes as currently being like totem poles.
“Totemic wood shelves that emerge from the parquet floor perform and react with all the existing diagonal shapes,” said Santiard. “At a more substantial scale they act as filters and brings some dynamics to the apartment’s organisation.”
Connected story: Apartment in Paris by Schemaa features a staircase made of cupboards
A new parquet floor stretches diagonally along the centre of the space, connecting the lounge at one end with a central dining region close to the entrance and a library at the opposite end.
Some of the shelves lean towards the current surfaces, while other folks are set up as freestanding units. Their timber building creates a visual connection with the parquet, while the white paint employed to brighten walls and other structural components continues onto some sections of the floor.
The kids each have their very own bedrooms, which are separate from the central space. Their mother and father don’t have a separate area but their bed is raised up and surrounded by shelves for privacy.
“The mothers and fathers stay awake later at evening in the residing area and rest in this inhabitable furnishings,” Santiard extra. “The plinth and the totem act as sort of filters, even though the bed keeps a connection with the rest of the apartment and the views.”
A minimally decorated kitchen adjoins the dining spot, while a bathroom is incorporated under the sloping roofline at 1 end of the apartment.
Every single room boasts a different see of the city skyline from one of the five small balconies situated about the perimeter of the roof.
The architects have completed a number of other projects in their house city, like an workplace fitted out with units created from modular blocks, and a glazed nursery extension with a folded fabric canopy.
Photography is by Stéphane Chalmeau.
Axonometric diagram 
Floor plan 
Sections Dezeen
